How Signal Transduction Influences Cancer
On October 29, 2009 in Science
Dr. Joseph Schlessinger is one of the first investigators of the field of Signal Transduction, which is paramount for cancer treatment, and numerous other fields as well.
Signal transduction describes processes by which cells transform a type of signal. Most signal transduction processes either involve sequences which are ordered of biochemical reactions inside the cell. These are then carried out by enzymes, activated by second messengers. The overall result is a signal transduction pathway. This usually happens extremely quickly, normally in milliseconds (such as the case of ion flux). Other times this can take minutes for the activation of lipid-mediated and protein kinase cascades. That being said, some such reactions can take many hours, days and even more. This is determined by necessity of the gene expression completion.
The number of molecules and proteins participating in the events regarding to signal transduction increases as the process emanates from the beginning stimulus, and the result is a “signal cascade,” beginning with a relatively small stimulus that elicits a greater response. This is referred to as amplification of the signal.
In single cell organisms as well as bacteria, the multitude of process of signal transduction of which the cell is capable of affects the number of ways it can respond to its environment. In multi-cellular organisms, a great variety multitude of various signal transduction processes are necessary for the coordination of the behavior and function of the comprising individual cells. This is both understandable and necessary so the whole organism can properly function. As one may expect, more complex organisms have a larger number of signal transduction processes. In addition, getting any stimuli from the outside environment at the cellular level depends on signal transduction.
This is why countless diseases including cancer, diabetes, heart disease and many more are involved with signal transduction and are a result of a flaw of the signal transduction pathways. This work is still far from being finished and additional grants are needed for the better of us all.